A 2009 Magical Christmas Anniversary Pre-Trip Report

[raider97]

You shouldn't have to worry about getting back into Mk after leaving on the same day without a park hopper if that is that park you went to that day. Without park hoppers, they stamp your hand at the exit and you can leave and return to the same park in the same day as much as you want.

The won-ton desserts at Yak and Yeti were amazing!

And at Teppan Edo, they gave us a special dessert for our honeymoon, I think it was pistacio flan? It was so good, and my husband (bad Mexican, something about not liking pudding/custard consistency desserts...) doesn't like flan, but he loved this stuff! I'd reccommend that to anyone, even kids.

Thanks for the tip about getting back in. The problem is I was thinking about trying to go to the Grand Floridian Cafe for Christmas Eve dinner, but then I read a thread about how MK closed last Christmas Eve to capacity limits, so I hate to chance not being able to get back in and not having park hoppers. Even though I guess if it was that crowded I probably wouldn't want to go back in anyways, huh? Something to think about... the problem is it is our last MK day and MK is my favorite park.

I am so glad you mentioned the pistachio custard. I'll have to ask since the others didn't sound appealing at all.

Now I just need to work on getting that long list cut down some.

Stephanie

 

[jenn-]

I can tell you from experience you probably don't want to be in MK close to capacity. We were there the day before Thanksgiving in '07 and it was PACKED. By the time your dinner ressies come, you will be ready to get out of dodge. It was so bad busy in the parks that day, we didn't even try to go back into them on Thanksgiving Day.

 

[raider97]

I am not sure I told you all that we bought tickets to MVMCP!!! We are going on the 18th.

I am a little worried since I know it will be one that sells out. But going to the party on our actual 10 year anniversary was too good to pass up. So my family, my parents, my cousin's family, and my aunt, her dsd and her dgd are going to go.

Right now, I am thinking about sleeping in on that Friday. Grabbing a late cs breakfast at POR and then heading over to MK around noon. Having the girls get their BBB makeovers. I need to pick dresses for them and get them ordered!! And then having a very early dinner in the castle for our 10th anniversary before the party starts. What do you guys think? Do you think I will have a hard time getting an ADR here for dinner? I hope not.

What do you think about the cool dude's hairdo at BBB? I am thinking about letting DS get it done. I think he would like it, but I am worried about how messy it will be.

Well, we have a quick trip to Houston planned this weekend to visit my parents so I won't be back until early next week. But then I will post some pics of some of the things I have already bought for this trip.

Have a great weekend!!

Stephanie

 

[annnewjerz]

I am not sure I told you all that we bought tickets to MVMCP!!! We are going on the 18th.

I am a little worried since I know it will be one that sells out. But going to the party on our actual 10 year anniversary was too good to pass up. So my family, my parents, my cousin's family, and my aunt, her dsd and her dgd are going to go.

Right now, I am thinking about sleeping in on that Friday. Grabbing a late cs breakfast at POR and then heading over to MK around noon. Having the girls get their BBB makeovers. I need to pick dresses for them and get them ordered!! And then having a very early dinner in the castle for our 10th anniversary before the party starts. What do you guys think? Do you think I will have a hard time getting an ADR here for dinner? I hope not.

What do you think about the cool dude's hairdo at BBB? I am thinking about letting DS get it done. I think he would like it, but I am worried about how messy it will be.

Well, we have a quick trip to Houston planned this weekend to visit my parents so I won't be back until early next week. But then I will post some pics of some of the things I have already bought for this trip.

Have a great weekend!!

Stephanie

Sounds like you guys are going to have an amazing anniversary.

I'm sure it'll be perfect---CRT ADR or not, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you get your ressie, it'll be the icing on the cake.

Have a great trip to Houston!

 

[raider97]

Hi!!

I have been doing a run down of my days. I really need to look at touring plans for their best days, but right now I am just going with where I want to be on what days.

Here is what I have broken it down to (currently )

Dec. 16th - Arrive late
Dec. 17th - Epcot
Dec. 18th - MK and MVMCP
Dec. 19th - AK
Dec. 20th - MGM
Dec. 21st - MK (son's 4th birthday)
Dec. 22nd - Epcot (mom's birthday)
Dec. 23rd - MGM
Dec. 24th - MK
Dec. 25th - AK
Dec. 26th - Depart early

So what do you guys think? Even enough spread? Change around the dates? I really want to try and get one last MK day in towards the end of our trip since it is my favorite. I thought AK might be good on Christmas. I picked Epcot for my mother's birthday and MK for my son's 4th birthday.

Stephanie

 

[raider97]

Sounds like you guys are going to have an amazing anniversary.

I'm sure it'll be perfect---CRT ADR or not, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you get your ressie, it'll be the icing on the cake.

Have a great trip to Houston!

You are right... it will be a perfect anniversary even without CRT. I am so excited. I can't wait for those December hours to be posted.

Stephanie

 

[jenn-]

That looks good to me. Good luck with being at the parks on Christmas day. I've heard they are insane. Personally I would be calling that I "wind down" day at the resort. We couldn't take the crowds leading up to Thanksgiving in '07 and didn't even try on that day. We hung out at DTD and the resort all day.

 

[raider97]

Here is what I have broken it down to

Dec. 16th - Arrive late
Dec. 17th - Epcot
Dec. 18th - MK and MVMCP
Dec. 19th - AK
Dec. 20th - MGM
Dec. 21st - MK (son's 4th birthday)
Dec. 22nd - Epcot (mom's birthday)
Dec. 23rd - MGM
Dec. 24th - MK
Dec. 25th - AK
Dec. 26th - Depart early

So that is three where they don't match up. I guess I will see what kind of tinkering I can do when the park hours come out.

Stephanie

 

[raider97]

That looks good to me. Good luck with being at the parks on Christmas day. I've heard they are insane. Personally I would be calling that I "wind down" day at the resort. We couldn't take the crowds leading up to Thanksgiving in '07 and didn't even try on that day. We hung out at DTD and the resort all day.

Good point Jenn. I figured it we got up early and got to AK at rope drop we could probably get a few things done that morning. Have a late breakfast at Tusker House and if it is too crowded head back to the resort for an afternoon of swimming and resort touring.

Stephanie

 

[raider97]

looks like you had tons of fun at sea world, and i must say that sea world in TX looks like loads more fun than san diego, they don't have any big coasters there, just a couple water rides that i can remember. i'm going to san diego this week so i'll try to make it over to see shamu and let you know =) good see you had a fun and safe trip and that those safety tats worked out for you!

How was your trip to San Diego? I can't believe they don't have any roller coasters. Sea World Texas has two regular adult roller coasters and one water roller coaster. Plus it has an entire water park section (wave pool, slides, etc.) I haven't been to the Sea World in San Diego since 2001 I guess. I do love their skyway tram though. Is that still open?

Stephanie

 

[raider97]

Glad to see those worked. I am going to have to look into them. The ones we used didn't work out that well for us, but they used a pen to write on them. Let me know how long they stay on (or until you have to really scrub to get them off). Sounds like you had a great time on vacation.

Jenn - They say you should apply a new one daily. Ours survived baths (granted I didn't scrub the tats) for about 3 days without any signs of wear. Swimming pools and loads of sunscreen might be harder on them though. I was very happy with them.

I just need to see if anyone knows if t-mobile gets pretty good service at WDW. I am worried we will put both our t-mobile cell numbers on them and then we won't get reception on the phones.

Have you started anymore crafts yet?

Stephanie

 

[raider97]

Your list looks great! I just wanted to comment that if you really want to try the Tonga Toast but can't fit in another ADR at Kona for breakfast, they do serve the Tonga Toast at a quick-service location in the Poly called Captain Cook's. On one of your MK days, it would be pretty easy to take the monorail and pop in for some breakfast before getting your day started.

Looking forward to reading more!

Thanks for the tip! I knew it was at Kona, but I wasn't sure I wanted to add another table service breakfast, but if I can get it at a counter service place....

Stephanie

 

[jenn-]

Jenn - They say you should apply a new one daily. Ours survived baths (granted I didn't scrub the tats) for about 3 days without any signs of wear. Swimming pools and loads of sunscreen might be harder on them though. I was very happy with them.

I just need to see if anyone knows if t-mobile gets pretty good service at WDW. I am worried we will put both our t-mobile cell numbers on them and then we won't get reception on the phones.

Have you started anymore crafts yet?

Stephanie

I am really glad to hear a positive review on those tats. As a person that has lost a kid at Disney, mine will be lucky not to be wearing them on their foreheads. I don't know about T-Mobile coverage, but if you ask on the main board I bet Robo will be able to tell you. As to the crafts question, it depends on when you checked in last . I have one I still need to report on, but as it didn't quite go as planned, again , I can't say it will be much to see. I need to put together a load of so I can wash my new shirt to reattempt my failed project. I have actually ran out of my original supply for myself . That means I have way to many tie dyed shirts hanging around here somewhere.

 

[raider97]

I am super excited about my news!!

We were in Houston visiting my parents and some friends this past weekend. Well, we went out to eat with some of our good friends and their three boys and were talking about our disney trip. They just bought into DVC and are just back from a disney cruise they went on in June. We got to talking about our trip and they were talking about how they were planning to go again in March and I said March isn't that far from December you guys should just go with us. Well, I was hoping they would look into it and they did!! So they are joining us for part of our time in December.

They will be arriving on the 18th and departing on the 23rd. They will be staying at Saratoga Springs. They have three little boys (7, almost 5, and almost 15 months). It will be their first time to see the parks all decked out for Christmas.

Well, I'm off to meet my bil, sil, and nephew for dinner. They are vacationing down here so we are dropping by for a while. Hope everyone has a great night!

Stephanie

 

[jenn-]

I am totally trying to convince one of my friends to come celebrate her girls birthday at Disney. Maybe we could cross paths for a few days. I am glad your friends were able to join you all for a few days. I hope you enjoyed your dinner.

 

[happenin2you]

How was your trip to San Diego? I can't believe they don't have any roller coasters. Sea World Texas has two regular adult roller coasters and one water roller coaster. Plus it has an entire water park section (wave pool, slides, etc.) I haven't been to the Sea World in San Diego since 2001 I guess. I do love their skyway tram though. Is that still open?

Stephanie

They do still have that skyway thing, it's perfect for looking out at the ocean. My trip was awesome and mainly consisted of hanging out lazily reading and eating amazing san diego old town mexican food and chick fil a, which we don't have in vegas overall, it was perfect and everything a san diego trip should be.

I'm so glad you were able to convince your friends to join you as well. I'm trying to get all kinds of people to join in my trip and i don't have many takers. My BFF wants to go but her fiance isn't willing to spend the holidays away from his family. They're going to need to do some talking about things, because she has been doing the holidays in Utah with her family forever and he has been doing Vegas, they're going to need to start compromising sometime. Better to do it before you're married I think. Anywho. DH's friends are not really into it, but they are all single and still in that bachelor drinking mode... We still have plenty of time to round people up, though, I'm not worried.

How is your ADR list coming along?

 

[raider97]

I have asked my cousin's wife and our good friends that are also coming with us in December to join in on my pre-trippie. I hope they will.

Stephanie

 

[creativeamanda]

Hey, have you called to get in on Free dining for your trip? I am actually going to get to go in December after all because of free dining!!!! You really need to call if you haven't--I have a feeling our week will be sold out quickly.

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Hi!! Thanks for stopping in. Tell me about your trip.... where are you guys staying? How long are you all going for? Any thoughts about food or plans yet?

Stephanie

Hi! I lost you for awhile! We are staying at POR for 5 nights and AKV for 3 nights. We are still tweeking our dining plans. Come on over to my PTR to read all about it! I just started it, so there isn't much there, but there soon will be!

 

[raider97]

I am totally trying to convince one of my friends to come celebrate her girls birthday at Disney. Maybe we could cross paths for a few days. I am glad your friends were able to join you all for a few days. I hope you enjoyed your dinner.

Thanks Jenn!! We did have a lovely dinner. It was at a seafood boil place. Where they boil it and then dump it on your table...super yummy! And I don't get to go very often since DH is not a seafood person and it is about 40 miles from here. We also took the "long" way and went across on the ferry...perfect timing since we got to see a ton of bottlenose dolphins feeding off of the ferry.

Keep working on your friends...We are celebrating my son's birthday while we are there. I think it is going to be so much fun!

Thanks for staying... sorry I haven't been updating too much. Hope to remedy that today.

Stephanie